Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2017, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (8): 1365-1374.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.213693

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A progressive compression model of thoracic spinal cord injury in mice: function assessment and pathological changes in spinal cord

Guo-dong Sun1, Yan Chen1, Zhi-gang Zhou1, Shu-xian Yang2, Cheng Zhong3, Zhi-zhong Li1, 4   

  1. 1 Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China;
    2 Biomedical Translational Research Institute and Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and Antibody Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China;
    3 Department of Traumatology and Plastic Surgery, The Affiliated Jiangmen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jinan University, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China;
    4 Department of Orthopedics, Heyuan People’s Hospital (Heyuan Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University), Heyuan, Guangdong Province, China
  • Received:2017-08-11 Online:2017-08-15 Published:2017-08-15
  • Contact: Zhi-zhong Li, Ph.D.,lizhizhongjd@163.com.
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 31400824; a grant from the Science and Technology Program of Jiangmen City of China, No. 2015751; and the Scientific Research and Cultivating Foundation of the First Clinical Medical College of Jinan University of China, No. 2013208.

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Abstract:

Non-traumatic injury accounts for approximately half of clinical spinal cord injury, including chronic spinal cord compression. However,previous rodent spinal cord compression models are mainly designed for rats, few are available for mice. Our aim is to develop a thoracic progressive compression mice model of spinal cord injury. In this study, adult wild-type C57BL/6 mice were divided into two groups: in the surgery group, a screw was inserted at T9 lamina to compress the spinal cord, and the compression was increased by turning it further into the canal (0.2 mm) post-surgery every 2 weeks up to 8 weeks. In the control group, a hole was drilled into the lamina without inserting a screw. The results showed that Basso Mouse Scale scores were lower and gait worsened. In addition, the degree of hindlimb dysfunction in mice was consistent with the degree of spinal cord compression. The number of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord was reduced in all groups of mice, whereas astrocytes and microglia were gradually activated and proliferated. In conclusion, this progressive compression of thoracic spinal cord injury in mice is a preferable model for chronic progressive spinal cord compression injury.

Key words: nerve regeneration, progressive spinal cord compression injury, pathological changes, Basso Mouse Scale scores, gait, motor evoked potentials, astrocytes, microglia, motor neurons, hindlimb dysfunction, neural regeneration